15-year tradition honors Armed Forces veterans for their service
Published in Morgan Hill October 12-25, 2016
By Staff Report
Photo by Marty Cheek A World War II vet receives a Quilt of Valor from the South Valley Quilt Association during this year’s Taste of Morgan Hill.
Sunday September 25 a heat wave of 96 degrees hit Morgan Hill, but in the Community Center Plaza that toasty afternoon several military vets were being wrapped with heavy quilts. Among them was Carolyn Payne who was visiting her sister Jeri Rincon, a 25-year resident of Morgan Hill.
The Quilts of Valor ceremony is a 15-year tradition for the South Valley Quilts Association to present ornately-made hand-stitched quilts to men and women who have served in the Armed Forces. Rincon presented her quilt to her 57-year-old sister. It featured a night sky bursting with fireworks. Payne is a retired captain in the U.S. Army.
“Six years ago I gave her a kidney so she can be alive today, and she gave me a quilt,” Payne said. “I came in this weekend for my mother’s birthday and she was, ‘We’ve got to do the quilt show on Sunday,’ and I said, ‘OK,’ I had no idea until a minute when I sat on the bench she would present it to me.”
Rincon’s eyes beamed with love and pride.
“I have an amazing sister named Caroline Payne,” she said. “Besides giving me a kidney — no strings attached — she served our country. And she serves her high school in amazing ways including being a librarian who is extremely well loved in the district.”
Jerilyn Lightfoot, a coordinator of the SVQA’s Quilts of Valor program, said her son is a special forces United States Marine who on occasion presents quilts to fellow Marines. That makes her feel a bond with veterans, and why she supports the program.
“As an American, when I’m sewing a Quilt of Valor, I’m thinking about you,” she said to the vets at the ceremony. “It’s a way to pay respect and teach others about American values, about patriotism and the way of American life and staying free.”
The quilts show gratitude to Americans who serve in the military, she said.
“We often experience dark times. We hope that when you wrap yourself with the quilt, you will experience a comfort that has been sewn into every seam,” she said. “It’s a tactile thank you. A quilt of honor is a civilian’s highest award that we can give you.”
A red, white and blue quilt made by SVQA member Jenny Davis was presented to Morgan Hill resident David Fritts. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Thailand in 1972 and 1973, spending his time there fixing helicopters to rescue downed Vietnam War pilots.
“I felt very honored, and I thought about the time I was in the service — the good times and the bad times, but mostly I was honored to serve my country,” he said about receiving his Quilt of Valor.
“It means that somebody has acknowledge their service and that they’re appreciated. The Vietnam War was not the best war, as everyone knows. But the people who were there in the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, they all went at it with a gusto and they all wanted to serve their country.”
